Chapter 63: 63 Holding the Funeral

On the execution ground, heads rolled about; An Chenyu did not go to the scene. Present at the scene were only Wang Da Xiansheng, Wang Tianma, two attendants from the An Mansion, the Steward, and "Ling'er, who was omnipresent whenever there were miscellaneous tasks."

As for the eldest of the Wang brothers, Wang Tianchuan, he should have been there, but he was not in the city due to an urgent matter.

Upon seeing the eldest young master's head roll from the execution platform, Wang Da Xiansheng's mind was in complete chaos: What was this? He had clearly come with the Old Master's letter to seize power; how could it be such a simple matter?

How did he suddenly collude with bandits, and how did he end up beheaded? "Good! Good!"

"A good kill!"

Among the onlookers, there were clearly those who deeply loathed the bandits; at this moment, they all waved their arms, expressing the sentiment that "seeing bandits die is very satisfying."

Wang Da Xiansheng looked left and right, feeling only that the sunlight was blinding, and coupled with those shouts of "Good," he felt a wave of dizziness, thinking to himself: How can I explain this to the old employer?

"Good!"

"Good!!"

On the branches, festive little firecrackers popped and crackled.

In the faint gunpowder smoke, red flowers were blooming brilliantly.

A group of muscular men wearing martial arts uniforms were gathered outside a grove where crabapple flowers were in full bloom, clapping desperately.

In the grove, where the flowers bloomed, a table held three sacrificial offerings—pig, ox, and sheep—and fruit platters were also indispensable; on the water-bird bronze incense burner, three sticks of clear incense were still curling with smoke.

Outside the table, two young men were bowing to the heavens, vowing that from now on they would be brothers, helping and supporting each other.

When the two stood up, Zhao Hua looked at Song Cheng excitedly and shouted with emotion: "Big Brother!"

Song Cheng nodded with a smile, the black cloth wrapped around his eyes fluttering gently in the breeze.

The muscular men from the martial arts school nearby immediately cheered again.

As for the older generation of the martial arts school, such as Zhao Laoyezi and Chen Shifu, they all looked at the scene before them with great gratification, feeling much more at ease in their hearts.

Although they had previously formed a Blood Alliance, there had still been a tiny bit of instability in their hearts.

But they were clear about what had happened over these past few days, and at this moment, when Zhao Hua, representing the power of the South City Martial Arts School, and Song Xiazi became sworn brothers, there was truly a feeling of being bound together until death from now on.

Song Xiazi was destined to be a figure of note.

In these chaotic times, with Zhao Hua able to follow him and the South City Martial Arts School able to follow him, the old folks felt their hanging hearts were finally at rest.

Zhao Laoyezi smiled from ear to ear; seeing that it was about time, he waved his hand, and the cheering muscular men immediately stopped. Zhao Laoyezi looked at Song Cheng and shouted: "Brother Song."

As soon as the words fell, many people burst into laughter, but upon realizing it was Zhao Laoyezi, they quickly covered their mouths and forced themselves not to laugh.

Song Cheng said: "Uncle Zhao, since Huazi and I have become brothers, I shall call you Uncle from now on."

Zhao Laoyezi suddenly felt his seniority had increased and laughed heartily: "I'm old and muddled, old and muddled."

Chen Shifu, who was nearby, laughed: "Old Zhao isn't muddled, he's just happy."

Zhao Laoyezi laughed heartily and waved his hand: "Go, go, go! Today at the South City Restaurant, food, drink, and entertainment are all on the house; we won't stop until we're drunk!"

As he spoke, he turned to look at the disciples of the martial arts school and said: "Lads, eat and drink to your heart's content!"

"Good!!" the martial arts school disciples responded loudly.

The group ate this meal until the mid-afternoon hour before stopping.

Song Cheng returned to the Ruyi Chamber of Commerce, drunk, and lay on the couch in the late afternoon; his body felt light as if it were about to fly away, and all his troubles were left behind.

Fine wine is truly good.

Not getting drunk would actually be fine too.

But that would be such a waste.

Song Cheng decided to enjoy this rare moment of drunkenness; after all, he knew there was still work to be done by evening at the latest.

Sure enough, at dusk, a yamen runner came to notify them that many corpses had been found near the official road in the south of the city, appearing to be from the Ruyi Chamber of Commerce, so they were notified to come and identify them.

Thus, An Chenyu, Song Cheng, and Wang Da Xiansheng hurriedly rode their horses there with several guards.

After a round of identification, the identities of the people were all clear.

An Laotaiye, An Dafuren, the Dafuren's personal maid, one Jin Realm martial artist of the An Family, and several guards. The money in the carriage had all been looted, and judging by the surrounding traces, it looked like the work of bandits; after all, some of the yamen runners had searched and found that the perpetrators had fled toward the mountains after the robbery.

Nowadays, the refugees who survived the Ghost Tide outside the city were a huge problem, and their numbers had not yet been carefully counted, so the appearance of bandits was perfectly normal.

An Chenyu stood silently beside the Old Master's corpse, her mood complex.

She was actually roughly aware of the situation in the Prefecture City because she had left informants in the An Family; although they were not high-level, they could still detect some movements.

She could roughly guess the purpose of the Old Master's arrival.

An Zhangsheng colluded with bandits to kill her, and the Old Master probably knew about it too.

Yet the one to be punished, the one at fault, and even the one who deserved to die, was always her.

Why?

"Just because I am a woman?"

"Are women meant to be sacrificed for your selfish interests?"

The Young Miss murmured softly in a voice only the youth beside her could hear.

She lowered her head silently, and not knowing what she was thinking, the sorrow on her face was slowly covered by solid ice; she bent down to pull the white cloth over, then took a deep breath, as if to expel all the "choking," "sentimentality," and "sadness" from her heart.

After a long while, she said faintly: "Little Song, let us return to the Prefecture City to hold the funeral."

Song Cheng nodded and said softly: "An Jie, the matters in the county town should be about finished. The Prefecture City is further back; no matter what happens, there is still a buffer." Major factions were not allowed to migrate, but the Ruyi Chamber of Commerce was originally a Prefecture City faction, and with the reason of holding a funeral for the Old Master, no one would stop them.

As for what the two were to do in the county town, it was firstly to rotate the grain stores of Shanghe County, and secondly, the Yunhe.

But just yesterday, An Chenyu had successfully donated two supervisors, allowing the eldest of the Wang brothers, Wang Tianchuan, and Gao Lin to join the "Yunhe project."

The project had already begun, and the two had just left this morning for the Yunhe near Shanghe County.

Thus, there was really nothing left to stay for in Shanghe County.

Three days later... one coffin after another was loaded onto ox carts.

The Young Miss made arrangements for the departure.

Song Cheng accompanied the Steward to the County Government to handle the travel permits.

If it were another family wanting to leave, the yamen might have obstructed them, but since the Ruyi Chamber of Commerce has its roots in the Prefecture City and needs to return to hold a funeral, they naturally would not stop them. As for whether Song Cheng's influence played a part, there was indeed a bit of that.

Face is something that might not be enough to make others offer help in a time of need, but it is certainly enough to add flowers to a brocade.

The Steward only felt that the procedures for the travel permit were handled extremely quickly. Up ahead, the Steward was going through the motions.

Meanwhile, Song Cheng was invited by a yamen runner to the backyard.

In the backyard, Ouyang Fei was sitting before a white stone table, watching him with a smile.

Song Cheng leaned on his cane, approached, performed a salute, and sat down with a thud.

Ouyang Fei poured tea for the two of them, then smiled and said, "The Internal Affairs Envoy will arrive in a few days; we cannot drink alcohol during the day, so Brother Song, please bear with it."

Song Cheng smiled and said, "The tea is good."

He raised his cup, sniffed the tea's fragrance, and then slowly leveled it.

Ouyang Fei clinked his cup against his.

The two laughed heartily and both drank it dry.

Ouyang Fei set down his teacup, fished a letter from his bosom, pushed it toward Song Cheng, and said, "These days, I have observed that Brother Song has not really been affected by your eye ailment. This letter is a recommendation for talent from my White Camel Manor; it bears the joint signature and handprints of myself and County Magistrate Chen. If Brother Song wishes to join the sect when you go to the Prefecture City, take this letter; if you do not wish to, just keep it hidden."

Song Cheng asked solemnly, "Brother Ouyang, if I were to join the sect, what would it be like?"

Ouyang Fei thought for a moment and began to count them off one by one.

And Song Cheng also slowly began to understand.

White Camel Manor is not a manor, but a ward: Huahaifang.

That entire ward together constitutes White Camel Manor.

If you formally join White Camel Manor, first, your family must move into Huahaifang, and entry and exit require a permit.

Doing this serves three purposes: first, it is safer; second, it elevates your status—others will see you are from Huahaifang and will know you are either wealthy or noble, so they will not easily provoke you; third, it makes you take root here, so if you have any ulterior motives, you must first weigh the consequences.

As for the "third" point, Ouyang Fei naturally did not say it, but Song Cheng could think of it easily enough.

In White Camel Manor, the Old Manor Master and the Young Manor Master are supreme, followed by two elders: one for Enforcement and one for Snake Management; then there are four Internal Affairs Envoys and two External Affairs Envoys.

These high-level figures all have strength at least at the "Form Realm."

It is even rumored that the Manor Master and the elders are existences above the "Form Realm," and are also existences that have broken the hundred-year lifespan limit of mortals.

The Internal Affairs Envoys manage local affairs and are the superiors to whom local officials like the County Magistrate and County Lieutenant report. However, the four of them take turns on duty, so they cannot, and dare not, engage in "forming cliques."

The External Affairs Envoys manage Jianghu affairs; compared to the offices of the Internal Affairs Envoys, they have far fewer people, but they are all elites.

The Enforcement Elder is as the name implies.

The Snake Management Elder was established because of the characteristics of White Camel Manor.

White Camel Manor controls a method for manipulating a type of peculiar magical beast, and this magical beast is the snake. The snake species are not singular, and Ouyang Fei does not know the specifics; this Inner Sect Disciple, who serves as the Shanghe County Magistrate, only knows that those snakes are very terrifying.

Therefore, the Snake Management Elder is also considered the strongest existence besides the Old Manor Master.

As for the territory, among the eighteen counties of Hanping Prefecture, White Camel Manor occupies five counties, Zhushan Temple occupies four counties, and the Mountain River Martial Arts Hall has nine counties.

This time, in order to stabilize the situation, the four Internal Affairs Envoys of White Camel Manor, and even the Enforcement Elder, have all been dispatched.

The above is all the basic information about White Camel Manor that Ouyang Fei knows; he does not know about other developments as an Inner Sect Disciple. As the two were chatting, a minor official from the front yard suddenly ran to the back, but seeing Song Cheng there, he hesitated to speak.

Ouyang Fei said in a gruff voice, "Speak directly!"

The minor official said, "The Ruyi Chamber of Commerce is returning to the Prefecture City this time, and there are some people from the martial arts halls accompanying them."

Ouyang Fei said, "How many people?"

The minor official said, "Eleven... including Zhao Hua and Liu Jun from the Water Bird Martial Arts Hall."

Ouyang Fei said, "It's just eleven, and you came specifically to report it? Just handle it! Don't you know that Zhao Hua from the Nancheng martial arts hall has sworn brotherhood with my Brother Song? So what if they follow them to the Prefecture City? You aren't sharp!"

The minor official hurriedly took his leave.

Once he was gone, Ouyang Fei smacked his lips, lowered his voice, and said, "Brother, don't do it too frequently; at least wait five or six days between times. Keep the number small each time, three or four is best, otherwise it's too conspicuous and other families will make a fuss. If the Internal Affairs Envoys come, it won't be easy to investigate."

Song Cheng smiled, cupped his hands, and said, "I will keep it in mind, many thanks, Brother Ouyang."

Ouyang Fei smiled and said, "You're too polite."

(End of this chapter)